Despite the controversy it has created in the antler-scoring world, the decision not to panel-score the Johnny King Buck has nothing to do with the hunter who killed the deer, according to the Boone-and-Crockett official who ruled the rack’s G-3 tines were abnormal.

In a 30-minute conversation with Deer & Deer Hunting in April 2011, B&C Executive Secretary Jack Reneau politely, yet firmly, defended his March 2007 decision that the King Buck’s rack did not qualify as a typical 6×6 under current B&C regulations.

The famous King buck is shown here in a replica. (Photo by Shane Indrebo, courtesy of www.classicantlers.com)

“There is no need to re-measure it,” Reneau said. “Those (G-3s) are abnormal points. A B&C panel would come to the same conclusion. I’m not trying to be tyrannical. Once the decision is made, that’s how it is. It’s nothing personal (against Johnny King), but I have to try and maintain the integrity of the program.”

Reneau said he employed the rules of the B&C scoring system and determined the G-3s were abnormal points. “Kevin Hisey, Glen Hisey and another official measurer all agreed with my opinion.”

He went on to say that many trophy owners disagree with final B&C scores and attempt to “shop” their trophies for better scores.

Despite his ruling, Reneau stopped short of completely closing the door on the King Buck. He explained that B&C officials have noticed there’s a new class of typical white-tailed deer antlers that are starting to surface that “we’ve never seen before, and Johnny King’s deer falls into that category.”

Because of the way B&C rules are written, the G-3s on these racks have to be scored as abnormal points. Reneau insinuated that, at some time in the future, the rules could change.

“But, for right now, I have to interpret the rack according to the current rules,” he said. “I know a lot of other scorers in Wisconsin may disagree with my decision, but I had to make my decision according to the (current) rules.”

Reneau didn’t provide details, but it’s this author’s guess that he is referring to so-called “common base points” and the fact that several racks similar to the King Buck have been ruled as having abnormal G-3s in recent years.

So, if anything were to happen in the future — say a change in the rules — it would justify Reneau’s decision.

“There are probably some (whitetail) trophies (in the record book) that were not scored correctly, but we can’t do anything about that now,” he added.

In other words, B&C is reluctant to change scores on previously submitted trophies in which various tines could have been interpreted incorrectly, thereby affecting the final score of those trophies.

The biggest point of contention here is that so many experienced measurers have seen the King Buck’s rack and, in accordance with the way they interpret B&C rules, they consider the G-3s to be typical all the way.

In conclusion, Reneau said B&C has made its decision, and it is final.